Mandopop

Mandopop (simplified Chinese: 华语流行音乐; traditional Chinese: 華語流行音樂; pinyin: Huá Yǔ Liú Xíng Yīn Yuè) is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music". It is also referred to as Mandapop. It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs performed mainly in Mandarin Chinese. Consumers of the music include fans, especially Mandarin speakers, in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and other countries.

Taiwan is the leading producer of Mandopop with Taipei as the industry's hub. Teresa Teng, the Mandopop queen of 1980s, was Taiwanese, as is A-Mei, one of the chart-topping singers since 2000. The liberalization and democratization of Taiwanese society in the 1990s enabled wider dissemination of the product, a larger audience, and a greater diversity of styles. Mandopop is a huge profit-making industry that encompasses and drives Asian trends in costume design, dance choreography, video, packaging and aggressive marketing.

Most of the reputable international Mandopop performers, lyricists, composers, producers and labels are based in Taiwan. Taiwan's Mandopop scene attracts talent from Europe, America, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Hongkong , Mainland China and elsewhere. Taiwan is today regarded as the "Cradle of Mandopop" and it continues to drive trends in Mandopop development internationally.

History

Origin

The origin of commercial Chinese-language music began with the gramophone, a technological innovation brought to Tibet Road in Shanghai by a Frenchman named Labansat. Baak Doi (Chinese: 百代; pinyin: bǎi dài) was the first record company to serve as the backbone for the young industry.

1920s: Birth of shidaiqu

Mandarin pop songs in the 1920s were called shidaiqu (時代曲 - meaning music of the time, thus popular music). They are considered the prototype of any Chinese pop song. Location-wise, Shanghai was the center and quintessential hub for mandopop. Li Jinhui is generally regarded as the "Father of Chinese Popular Music," having established the genre in the 1920s. Buck Clayton, the American jazz musician, also worked alongside Li. Some music enthusiasts suggest that Shidaiqu is the basic form of all Mandarin pop songs up until the transition to Cantopop. The Bright Moonlight Song and Dance Troupe (明月歌舞团), established by Li, is also the first modern musical division to be integrated into the Lianhua Film Company in 1931, making it the first pop music division to enter any Chinese film industry.

1930s–1940s: The Seven Great Singing Stars era

The original "Seven Great Singing Stars" in the Republic of China period secured the place of the genre in Asian society. The singers' style was unlike any Chinese-language music that had come before it. The young film industry took advantage and engaged singers for acting and soundtrack roles. Zhou Xuan (Chinese: 周璇; pinyin: Zhōu Xuán）is generally considered the most remarkable Chinese pop star of the era due to her successful singing and film career. This generation saw female singers rise in popularity from "song girls" to "stars". The era came to an abrupt end when Japanese armies occupied Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.

File:Teresa Teng.gif

Teresa Teng

1950s: The split

In 1949 the People's Republic of China was established by the communist party. One of the first actions taken by the government was to denounce popular music as pornography. In the mainland, the communist regime would begin suppressing pop music in order to promote revolutionary songs.

The Chinese Nationalists' retreat to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War had established the Republic of China on Taiwan with its capital city Taipei as the new center of Mandopop. Taiwanese youth were drawn to popular styles from abroad in part because the Japanese, who had governed Taiwan since the end of the nineteenth century through World War II, were themselves keen consumers of international entertainment. Popular songs necessarily employed Mandarin after the war though, because Taiwan's new rulers, the KMT, mandated its use, forbidding Japanese and restricting the use of Taiwanese, the actual mother tongue of most of the island's residents. Where Taiwanese pop had existed in the shadow of Japanese pop during Japanese rule, it now operated in the shadow of Mandopop during KMT rule.

1960s: Political era

The 1960s was a highly politically tense era. Some songs in Taiwan such as "Not Going Home Today" (今天不回家) by Yao Surong (姚蘇蓉) were prohibited.

1970s–1980s: Rise of the industry

Mandopop became more popular within mainland China after Deng Xiaoping opened China's doors to the world. As a result, more young people in China started to enjoy pop music.

In 1979 Singapore launched the Speak Mandarin Campaign to promote the use of Mandarin over the range of Chinese dialects spoken by various segments of the ethnic-Chinese population. Mandarin songs therefore began to replace Hokkien and Cantonese songs on the radio stations and on television..

Teresa Teng (simplified Chinese: 邓丽君; traditional Chinese: 鄧麗君; pinyin: Dèng Lìjūn) made Mandopop a true mainstay by crossing over to mainland China. Even in the height of censorship, the mainland lifted the ban on Teng in 1986 and proclaimed that "By day, Deng Xiaoping rules China. But by night, Deng Lijun (Teresa Teng) rules". Her songs were considered "Bourgeois Music" by mainland officials.

The popularity of Lo Ta-yu (simplified Chinese: 罗大佑; traditional Chinese: 羅大佑; pinyin: Luó Dàyòu) drove demand for the music to new heights. One of the most successful songs of the era was Lo Ta-yu's "Tomorrow will be Better" (明天會更好/明天会更好). The song was originally performed in 1985 by 60 singers. It quickly became a hit throughout Asia and established itself as a standard. Another song soon followed in 1986 in mainland China called "Let the World be filled with Love" (讓世界充滿愛). At the time these songs were inspired by the American song We Are the World.

1990s

Faye Wong (王菲) became the first Chinese singer to perform in Budokan, Japan. For this reason she is also called the Diva of Asia.

During this period singers from Hong Kong such as the Four Heavenly Kings - Aaron Kwok, Leon Lai, Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung - also began to dominate Mandopop. Nonetheless, Taiwan has their own popular singers such as Stella Chang, Sky Wu, Wakin Chau (formerly Emil Chau) and Jeff Chang.

Taiwan's Jay Chou dominated almost all categories for a span of a decade

2000s

The 2000s began with an explosion of pop idols, mainly from Taiwan. A growing mainland film industry was also hungry for mandopop after decades of suppression. Jay Chou led the popularity of rhythm and blues and rap music in the scene. Other successful singers include Stefanie Sun, David Tao, Jolin Tsai and Leehom Wang. Recent years also saw the rise in crossover appeal of Taiwanese bubblegum pop boybands and girlbands to the Mainland Chinese scene, with commercially successful acts such as S.H.E and Fahrenheit. The nationwide singing competitions in the People's Republic of China, such as the Super Girl contest, have greatly boosted mandopop's influence. Mainland China has a large number of talented mandopop singers as pop music becomes increasingly mainstream. Since the new millennium, cantopop stars frequently cross over into the mandopop industry in order to increase their fan base. However, it is rare for a mandopop star to cross over into cantopop because it is generally more difficult for a native Mandarin speaker to learn Cantonese than it is for a Cantonese speaker to learn Mandarin. After the incoming of S.H.E and Fahrenheit, the next two popular groups are Channel V's Lollipop and Hey Girl. They are backed by celebrity groom shows of their own.

In recent years, the burgeoning number of contests have brought an idol concept to the Mandopop industry. Many idol dramas were also announced to be filmed in 2009, including the Mainland Chinese remake of the famous Hana Yori Dango. While some say that this phenomenon is a positive trend for Taiwan to develop its already flourishing music industry even further, seeing how this idol concept propelled South Korea so far in their K-Pop development, many others (particularly the older generation in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) complain that these new "post-80s" singers are a disappointment compared to the skill of the older veterans. Overall however, it's clear that Taiwan will remain the leader in Mandopop for some time with the slow decline of Hong Kong stars and Mainland China's developing music industry which is nevertheless decades behind Taiwan's, despite showing signs of major development and renovation. Singapore's music industry has much room to grow with stepped up efforts to develop a local entertainment scene especially in this decade, led by the success of Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin.

Characteristics

Instruments and setups

The guqin and pipa are some of the first instruments used during shidaiqu's early mandopop era. Today's mandopop arrangements are quite westernized, covering many musical styles, including rhythm and blues, ballads, Pop. A few Chinese pop musicians, most notably Jay Chou, Lin Jun Jie, and Leehom Wang, have experimented with fusing traditional Chinese instruments with western influences.

Influential artists like Leehom Wang and David Tao, who use both traditional Chinese instruments and mainstream western hip hop melodies, have influenced many Asian singers worldwide.

Lyrics

Traditional Chinese characters are used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, while China uses simplified characters. While the lyrics may be the same when sung, differing Chinese accents can disrupt the tone and flow. Major Mandopop singers of non-Taiwanese backgrounds from Mandarin-speaking parts of Asia such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, have often adopted the Taiwanese Mandarin-speaking accent for their pieces. This is a major downside of singing Mandopop for singers of a Mainland Chinese background. Thick northern accents (e.g., Beijing) often do not go well with contemporary Mandopop songs (unless done deliberately) although they may be more adaptable to pre-1970s Mandopop trends.

Industry

Mandopop stars

While China has the largest Mandarin-speaking population, Taiwan is the most significant hub of the genre. The trend is that most artists are branded by where they come from regardless of where they were actually marketed. Mandopop stars come mainly from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Labels

Many Mandopop labels exist. These include Rock Records, HIM International Music. Subsidiaries of major companies such as Virgin Records Taiwan are also in the market. In the past few years, mainland labels such as EE Media have emerged to dominate.

Overseas

Mandopop titles are also available outside of Asia. Chinese communities established in North America have made Mandopop music accessible through local businesses. In the United States, Canada and Australia they are easily found in many major urban areas, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Notable Artists

Male

A-Do Ah Niu Alan Ke Alec Su Alex To Anson Hu Aska Yang Blue J Chang Chen-yue Chang Yu-Sheng Chyi Chin Danson Tang David Tao Evan Yo

Gary Cao Han Geng Harlem Yu Huang Xiao Ming Jackie Chan Jam Hsiao Jay Chou Jaycee Chan Jeff Chang Jerry Yan Ji Jia Song Jimmy Lin JJ Lin Joe Cheng Khalil Fong Ken Zhu

Leehom Wang Liu Huan Michael Wong Ming Dao Nicholas Teo Nicky Wu Phil Chang Richie Ren Show Luo Sky Wu Stanley Huang Su Xing Sun Nan Tank

Vanness Wu Vic Zhou Wei Chen Wilber Pan Wu Bai Xie He Xian Yoga Lin Yu Haoming Z-Chen Zhang Jie

Female

A-mei Ah Sang Alan Dawa Dolma Alin Huang Amber Kuo Angela Chang Angelica Lee Baby Zhang Barbie Xu Cheer Chen Cindy Yen

Claire Guo Coco Lee Cyndi Wang Cynthia Wang Dai Ai Ling Dee Hsu Ding Dang Bai Guang Bai Hong Deserts Chang Elva Hsiao

Evonne Hsu Faith Yang FanFan Fan Bing Bing Faye Wong Fish Leong Genie Zhuo Gong Qiuxia He Jie Jane Zhang Jessie Chiang

Joanna Wang Jocie Guo Mei Mei Jolin Tsai Kaira Gong Landy Wen Li Xianglan Li Yuchun Liu Li Yang Liu Yifei Peggy Hsu

Penny Tai Queen Wei Rachel Liang Rainie Yang Ruby Lin Saya Chang Shunza Stefanie Sun Tanya Chua Teresa Teng

Valen Hsu Vicki Zhao Victoria Song Vivian Hsu Yao Lee Yuki Hsu Yung Joey Zhang Li Yin Zhou Bichang Zhou Xuan

Groups/Bands

183 Club 2moro 4 in Love 5566 7 Flowers A-One A.S.O.S. Blue Bird Flying Fish BOBO BY2 Da Mouth

Dong Cheng Wei Energy Fahrenheit F.I.R. Feng Yun Bang HIT-5 Idol Girls F4 G.I.P K One

Lollipop Hey Girl Mayday M.I.C Nan Quan Mama Power Station Seventeen S.H.E Sisters Sodagreen SuperVC

Super Junior-M Sweety Tension The Flowers Top Combine Twins

Mandopop radio stations

Station	Location	Frequencies and Platform
All Chinese Hits Internet Radio	Silicon Valley, USA	Internet radio station: live365.com/stations/bluemonty
Kiss Radio Taiwan	Taiwan	99.9 FM, 99.7 FM, 97.1 FM, 98.3 FM and Internet live streaming
Hit Fm		90.1 FM, 91.5 FM, 101.7 FM and Internet live streaming
Beijing Radio Stations	Beijing	97.4 FM and Internet live streaming
Shenzhen Radio Station	Shenzhen	97.1 FM and Internet live streaming
Shanghai Media Group	Shanghai	101.7 FM and Internet live streaming
KAZN	Los Angeles	Sometimes
Yes 93.3	Singapore	93.3 FM and Internet live streaming
883 JIA FM	Singapore	88.3 FM and Internet live streaming
MY FM	Malaysia	Frequencies vary according to location
MandarinRadio.com		Internet live streaming (also available on iTunes Radio)

See also

• Music of China
• Music of Taiwan
• C-pop
• Chinese R&B
• J-pop
• Taiwanese pop